And A Pepperony Pizza On The Side
by Kamryn The Wanderer
Summary: Tony takes Pepper out on a date, where she is confronted by a jealous ex-girlfriend of Tony's and manipulated to believe that Tony is cheating on her. Poor Tony only wants to propose. Fluff, romance, and general cutesyness. And yes, it's Pepperony with a Y for a reason :) Rating for a few innuendos and the use of the b-word.


**Complete fluff and syrupyness and Tony being romantic and basically just a little fluffy bit about Tony's proposal, and Pepper's resignation to the fact that he's a playboy and always will be. And I threw in a couple lines about Bruce, because he's awesome and tragic and wonderful and I'm writing a story about him. Yes, Pepperony is spelled that way on purpose. And no, there's nothing in here about pizza except for the restaurant they go to. I just like the title.**

"Come on, Pepper, we're going out," said Tony, appearing at her office door. Pepper sighed, put her elbows on the desk and pinched the skin between her eyes.

"Tony, I can't just drop everything and go on a date with you, I've got an important piece of paperwork to get signed and in order, and I still have to smooth over that ruckus you made with that General Ross guy. I don't like him either, but you can't just call random people bastards on hearsay, Tony—"

"I'll do it for you when we get back, okay? And I'll apologize to General Ross. Please, Pepper."

She sat very still in her chair, and looked up, eyes wider than usual.

"Did you just _volunteer _to do _work_?" she asked.

Tony nodded, plopping himself down in the chair in front of her desk and moving the desk toy to one side. Pepper didn't even bother protesting. She'd move it back later.

"We haven't been on a date in _ages_," he said, plaintively.

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"I never took you for a dating type. You're more of a one-night stand person, I'd think."

"I am, normally, but with you, all my rules about women go out the window," said Tony.

She looked up, wondering if he was mocking her, but there was an earnestness in his eyes she'd rarely ever seen.

"I had to ask my Science Bro for dating advice. Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?" said Tony, plaintively. He reached out and took her hand.

"Please, Pepper," he repeated. Pepper sighed.

"Fine. Should I dress up?"

Tony smiled brightly.

"Yes. Look, I even dressed up."

He gestured at his suit-clad self.

"Okay. I'll be downstairs in twenty minutes, alright?" said Pepper. Tony kissed her briefly and was out the door before she could blink.

When they pulled up in front of the fancy Italian restaurant, Pepper couldn't help but smile. She'd mentioned this place several times to Tony as her favorite but the fact that he remembered and cared was enough to make her smile lovingly in his direction. He returned it with a smug sort of smirk, as if to say

_Yeah, I'm awesome._

Happy turned around and smiled at them both.

"Care to step out?" he asked.

Tony stepped out first, handing Pepper out of the limo, and they walked up the steps through a barrage of reporters.

"How did they know we were coming?" Pepper whispered.

"Clint, I think. He's still not over the whole thing with the sequins on his arrows. It's not like it upset their flight any."

Pepper rolled her eyes, her mood deflating slightly.

"Let's just get inside."

As they were waiting for their order, Tony started shifting a bit, before standing up.

"I'm just going to go to the men's room," he said, uncomfortably, before dashing off.

Pepper looked after him, then at the glass of wine standing in front of his place setting. Sure enough, it was almost empty. Knowing Tony, he'd probably taken a few shots of vodka before they left, too.

She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes.

_If he gets drunk on our date night I swear, I will kill him._

"Hi!" said an annoyingly chipper voice. Pepper's eyes shot open to see a younger, curvy redhead standing in front of her with a false smile plastered on her face.

"Hello, Pepper," said the woman, holding out a hand. "It's nice to see you again."

Pepper shook her hand hesitantly.

"Likewise. Not to sound rude, but what's your name again?" she said, before wincing internally. Probably one of Tony's one-night stands. There was something bugging her about this girl though, something familiar.

"I'm one of Tony's ex-girlfriends. Veronica."

"Oh! Veronica!" said Pepper. It was one of the few girls who had lasted more than two weeks with Tony. Not much more, but it was still an accomplishment. She'd been with Tony for about a year and a half now. That figure still amazed her when she thought about it.

"Yeah! I just wanted to say, I'm so happy for you and Tony. You must be a hell of a woman to keep Tony focused on you for so long," said Veronica, pleasantly. "At least the CEO thing makes sense now."

Pepper's face set. Veronica wasn't the first one to imply that she had slept her way to the position, but rarely had anyone been so blunt about it, and it hurt.

"I made my way to CEO on my own merits. Stock has risen by almost 3 percent since I took the position," said Pepper, stiffly.

"Suuure," Veronica drawled. She smiled suddenly

"I hate to change the subject, but isn't it hard when your boyfriend is constantly flirting with and sleeping with other girls?"

Pepper's lips went thin.

"Tony loves me, Veronica. He wouldn't cheat on me."

Veronica looked over Pepper's shoulder meaningfully. With a sinking heart, Pepper turned around, to see a tiny, gorgeous, giggly blond draped over Tony, who was talking to her in a low voice.

Pepper's eyesight went blurry, and she touched her face, fingers coming away wet with tears.

Hastily she got up and fled the restaurant, leaving Veronica's smug face far behind.

Tony had the distinct feeling he was being ganged up on. He'd gotten up to go to the bathroom, and as soon as he was out some slutty little blond girl threw herself at him. He almost winced at that thought. Since when had slutty been a bad thing? _Since Pepper_.

"Hiii handsome," she said, punctuating her remark with a giggle.

"Hey," he said, good-humoredly. "I'd love to chat, but I've got a gorgeous girl waiting on me, and I'd hate to leave her all alone."

"Aw, come on, sweetie, don't you want to buy me a drink?"

"Sure, I'll buy you a drink, but I'm not interested in whatever else you've got planned. I mean, usually I would be, but I have a girlfriend now, a _real_ girlfriend." As had been his habit lately, his hand slipped into his jacket pocket to finger the velvet box he'd bought the other day.

The girl pouted, arranging herself on him to her advantage.

"She doesn't have to know," she whispered.

"She's Pepper. She knows _everything_. It's scary."

"Not if you're very…_discreet," _

"Okay, look, what part of 'I'm not interested' do you not understand?" said Tony. He was starting to get irritated.

"The _why _part. I'm far more likely to please you than any skinny ginger bitch," the girl purred.

That was _not _okay.

"Look, you little slut, piss off. I've got a date. And if you ever, _ever_ insult my girlfriend again, I will ensure the entire _world_ knows how slutty you are, understand?"

He looked up to discover that he, in fact, did not have a date. He caught the tail end of Pepper's fleeing form and his heart sank.

Damn it. He knew what that must have looked like. Shaking off the girl, who was starting to cry theatrically, he ran after her, begging Odin or Thor or whoever the hell was listening that he could still salvage this.

"Pepper! Pepper wait!"

"Pepper! Pepper wait!"

She could hear him yelling after her, and slowed to a walk, crossing her arms.

"Pepper, I swear, it wasn't what it looked like," he pleaded, walking alongside her.

"Then what is it? Look, I knew what I was getting into from the start, okay? It's just hard to have it rubbed in my face."

Tony stopped dead, and she got ahead of him. She could feel him staring at her.

"Pepper, Pepper I love you! I haven't been with any other girls since the Hammer drones incident, promise!"

He was running after her again, and she walked faster, not wanting him to see the tears on her face.

"Pepper, I want you to marry me!" he yelled. A few random passerby turned and gaped at him.

It was Pepper's turn to stop dead.

"_What_?" she asked, softly. Tony caught up to her and took her hands.

"I was planning for this to go a bit more romantically," he said under his breath. "But please, Pepper, marry me?"

He fumbled with the box, pulling it out of his pocket, and dropped to one knee, flipping it open to reveal the ring he'd chosen so carefully. It was gold, with a red garnet the color of the iron man suit framed by two orangeish stones the color of Pepper's hair.

"How long have you been planning this?" Pepper asked, in disbelief.

"Weeks. Months. Since the Chitauri."

"Why is our life divided up into disasters?" she asked, rhetorically.

Tony shifted uncomfortably on the pavement, looking a bit desperate.

"Pepper…" he said, softly. "I love you. Marry me."

Tears gathered in her eyes and she nodded, at first only slightly but steadily more emphatically.

"Yes, yes of _course _I'll marry you, idiot," she said, letting out a sob and burying her face in her hands. Tony stood up and pulled her into his embrace, and made an odd sort of sound that sounded rather like a sniffle. She pulled away and looked up at him to see tears in his eyes as well.

"Don't ever run away from me again, okay, Pepper?"

She nodded and kissed him. There were a few wolf-whistles and catcalls, but they didn't really care.

"You still have to apologize to General Ross, though," she murmured. Tony frowned.

"_Really_? The guy wants to kill Bruce! I can't be _nice_ to him!"

"Yes, you can, and you will."

Tony was silent for a bit, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Okay. Can we go see if our order's arrived yet though? I'm starving."

Pepper let out a laugh, and hand-in-hand they walked back to the restaurant.

Later, Pepper couldn't help but smile at the shock on the Avengers' faces as she showcased the shining ring on her left hand. All except Bruce, who was smiling almost as much as Tony, but far more sadly.

"You'll be best man, of course, Bruce," said Tony, off-handedly.

And as that smile lost almost all of its grief Pepper couldn't help but smile at the man who would be her husband.


End file.
